Africa Vision 1

Africa Vision 1

Rome-Addis Abeba, November 8, 2007

Going home.

The nun I am talking to is from North Kivu. Her family has been slaughtered and in a new vicious cycle of violence her remaining family members are being chased out of their villages. She is a refugee living in Rome on the way home to Kinshasa to arrange housing for 35 orphans. About 12 years ago she was being chased and again the same old story. There is a small percentage of blood lusty and power hungry mad men ruining the life of hundreds of thousands of people.

Some of my old colleagues of the International Rescue Committee are working in the area. I had been hearing stories about the dire needs. Congo, Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic. At times the list seems endless. And still my response is always the same.

No kid deserves not having shelter, food, clean drinking water, health care, education and basic security. This is enough reason for me to plunge back in to Chad again. This time my job is not in the East near Darfur but in the South. A steep learning curve will await me as I will become project director as well as medical advisor.

One of the most attractive parts of the job will be working with two friends. Fazal and Ebenezer. Both are old hands in Africa and in the world of nongovernmental organizations. Their dream was to set up an organization of Chadian origin with minimum foreign input. An organization meant to set up or rather revamp existing primary health care services in the South of Chad. For a plethora of reasons this area has been neglected by the current government .

Their dream is not an easy one to make come true. But the first steps have been taken. The organization is called Africa Vision and has been registered as an NGO with the Chadian government since several months. A donor has been found (UNICEF) and a project proposal has been written up. Several other potential donors (ESSO, the American Embassy) may be convinced as well to supply funds.

As it stands right now the area we will be working is in the South of Chad, near the border of the Central African Republic. Our target population is about 120000 people. It is an area where children still die of preventable diseases as for example malaria, diarrhea, measles or chest infections. The causes are simple. A working vaccination program is not in place. The hospital functions with out a physician, there are no or limited drugs, pigs live near the water well. There are more causes to describe which I will do in future letters.

We as Africa Vision will focus on several points.
The mission is to reduce child mortality and morbidity by sustainable and simple interventions. These interventions are things we in the West often take for granted: vaccination, medication supply, availability of health staff, clean water etcetera.

Firstly the distribution of impregnated bed nets and the follow up as to how to use them to prevent transmission of malaria.
Secondly the training of traditional birth attendants, village health workers, nurses in use of the Chadian treatment protocols.
Thirdly the supply of materials and medications to restock the health centers and hospitals in the regions will be addressed
Fourthly the setting up of a cold chain and a vaccination program will be paramount to improving child survival
Fifthly a solution must be found for the water born diseases. Water wells need to be buffed up.

None of these objectives can be reached without the active participation of the local population, local government and central government. All our staff will be Chadian, but for me, by means of focus group discussions input will be asked of stake holders; village elders, women, youths, church groups etcetera. Also there has to be a close collaboration with the government as to ensure longevity of the project.
International experience and knowledge is needed. We are lucky to have a partner to give as program support . They are called Project Concern International and hail from the USA.

Back to Chad. I am happy. I feel there is a lot of work ahead of us. I know there is support for my work from all over the world and that makes the job easier. Many have said they wanted to come and visit/work in the project. We will see what is possible. As to communicating about the project: a website will be opened for both Africa Vision as well as for myself. I intend to use a video blog on a weekly basis (either You tube, blogspot.com, or a website of our own) and a blog on a more regular bais.

Best of all is that I have the pleasure to work with people who believe I can do the job and have said that Africa Vision is my little baby. Well with the help of great Chadian staff the wish is to make it a grand success.

Nakuna matata,

Namaskar,

Ashis Brahma
Africa Vision’s Big Fish